BY: DEAN MOORE – SPORTS ON AIR USA CORRESPONDENT
LAS VEGAS. Rolly Romero survived a third-round knockdown to capture the WBA super lightweight title by scoring a 9th round TKO over a game Ismael Barroso at The Chealsea inside The Cosmopolitan in the famous Las Vegas strip.
Barroso, the 40-year old No.1 contender, who was a steep underdog againt the 27-year old murderous punching Romero, put up a gallent stand that had him ahead on al scorecards at the time of the stoppage.
Romero stopped Barroso at 2:41 of the ninth round in what many ringside observers viewed as a dubious call from referee Tony Weeks. Before the intervention, Barroso was leading on the scorecards.
Judges Tim Cheatham (76-75), Steve Weisfeld (78-73) and David Sutherland (77-74) all scored in favor of Barroso.
Romero himself admitted Barroso should have been allowed to continue.
“I’ll be honest, he’s a warrior and he should have been allowed to continue,” Romero said. “I boxed the entire time. I came in a little cold. I got cracked and I got up like a champion and kept going. I took my time and moved around. The man is strong so I had to be careful with him.
“Do you think I want to get caught by one of his (punches)? I told you the man can crack. I told everyone he could crack.”
Right from the get-go Barroso touched Romero (15-1, 13 KOs) to the left side with a hard right, but otherwise, neither fighter did much of anything in the first three minutes.
At the 1:30 mark of the second round, Barroso (24-4-2, 22 KOs) wound up on the canvas, though that came from a slip when the fighter’s legs became entangled. Through two rounds, there was no clear-cut leader on the cards.
Fighting his third-straight southpaw, Romero patiently waited on Barroso, who was lunging when he threw his left, leaving himself vulnerable to a counter punch right.
As time ticked off in the third round, Romero found himself on the canvas for the second time in his career, courtesy of a Barroso straight left to the face as Romero was backing up against the ropes.
“I was a little buzzed, I was a little off balance and I got caught,” Romero said. “I moved around and got back into it.”
Romero, blooded and stunned, fought back in the ensuing rounds and caught Barroso with a left hook and began opening up.
The relentless assault eventually set the stage for the dramatic, albeit controversial ending.
